What's in my Hospital & Diaper Bag for Labor & Delivery

Here's my latest video on "What's in my Hospital & Diaper Bag for Labor & Delivery"

Okay, I did an updated version of my older video What to Bring to the Hospital for Mom & Baby. I have changed a few things having done this once before. But I still think most women bring way too much when they come to the hospital. I've seen women come in with a 5-piece set of luggage like they're staying for 2 months. As a labor and delivery nurse for 8 years, I have seen the essential things that women should bring in to the hospital, and some things that could probably be left at home. Either way, it's all a matter of opinion!

Packing List for Mom and Baby (Essentials):
-lip balm or chapstick
- camera/video recorder
- toiletries and makeup (don't go overboard!)
- nursing bra/underwear
- comfy pants/pajamas, loose shirts
-slippers and/or socks
-car seat (YOU MUST HAVE THIS!)
- 1 outfit for baby to go home in
- 1 blanket for baby

Optional items:
-extra pillows, music, movies, cards, books, games, writing material, laptop, watch or clock, robe, slippers, lotion, boppy pillow, hand mittons/baby socks to cover newborn's hands, robe, phone/ipod chargers

Hospital should provide the following (while at the hospital):
FOR BABY: blankets, onesies/shirts (many with fold-over sleeves so baby doesn't scratch him/herself), burp clothes, diapers, wipes, hat, bulb syringe (aka nose sucker), pacifier (if requested).
FOR MOM: pads (both large and small), mesh underwear, toiletry items like shampoo, lotion, soap, toothbrush/toothpaste (if you ask), non-skid socks/slippers, patient gown, pillows, blankets, tucks medicated cooling pads for after delivery, breast pump, breast pads, formula/bottles (usually have to request this), towels, spray/squirt bottle.

Here are some other helpful links with Hospital Packing Lists: Here, Here, and Here.

Let me know if you have found any other 'essential' items or 'nice to have' items for labor and delivery!

Pregnancy Vlog- 38 Weeks

Here's the link to the latest (and probably last) pregnancy vlog: Pregnancy Vlog- 38 Weeks

I recently had some maternity photos taken. We really wanted to have maternity photos with our first daughter, but she came 3 weeks early unexpectedly so we missed our maternity photo shoot appointment. This time I really wanted pictures since we don't know when or if we'll ever be pregnant again (though hoping we will be again!).

Pregnancy Vlog- 26 Weeks

I'm 26 weeks along now! Feeling really good and excited for baby's arrival! We are so busy getting everything ready.

Pregnancy Vlog- 20 Weeks

Exciting Announcement

Hi everyone! We are THRILLED beyond thrilled to announce that we are expecting a baby. Our road to pregnancy has been long and hard. We have one daughter conceived through IVF (in-vitro fertilization) so getting pregnant for us is no easy task. Last year we went through a horrible miscarriage in my 12th week of pregnancy so we experienced a devastating loss with that.

I am now 19 weeks which is the middle of the 2nd trimester. We purposely waited a long time to share this news publicly to protect ourselves after going through a miscarriage last year. We hope you will find joy with us in this exciting announcement. Please comment below and let me know what questions you have!

Another Baby

We have a daughter who is less than one year old. And I am constantly thinking about when we will get pregnant again! We have struggled with infertility for years. It took a lot of time and money to get pregnant with our daughter.

Once we finally got pregnant, I felt relieved that I didn't have to deal with infertility again for a while. But the thought still loomed in my head. We had a magical pregnancy and delivery, but as soon as our baby girl arrived, I started thinking about our next baby.

When would we get pregnant again? Would we be able to get pregnant naturally this time? Or would we embark yet again on a several-year journey of medications, ovulation testing, procedures, ultrasounds, waiting, more waiting, hoping to get pregnant?

I can't help thinking sometimes that my infertility has been "cured". It's easy to think that because we have one baby having another one will be a piece of cake. At least that's what I'm hoping for.

We are not under so much stress and pressure to have another baby right away this time. For years the only thought that occupied my mind was "I want to get pregnant now!". I am more content and happy now that we have our baby girl. But I still wonder when the next time is that we will get pregnant.

Will it be in a month? 6 months? 1 year? 3 years? I KNOW that we will get pregnant again and have more children. That's a fact. But the not knowing WHEN is so hard!

We had discussed birth control when my daughter was born and made the decision to not take any kind of birth control. We truly felt like if we got pregnant right away (even though it's not advised or good for a postpartum body such as mine) we would be thrilled.

And I truly would be thrilled! Now that our baby is older and not really a newborn, getting pregnant would be so great! I always wanted my kids to be close in age. Maybe not 9 months close, but within a couple years of each other.

Some days I try not to think about it much, since stress is not good for a woman who wants to get pregnant. But I can't help thinking about it.

Whenever it does happen, my world will transform again in to a magical land of pregnancy hormones and dreams of a larger family. I love being pregnant.

Laughing at Infertility (Part 1)

My husband and I have struggled with infertility for years. I never thought in a million years when we got married that we would have so much trouble getting pregnant as we did.

After 3 years of TTC (trying to conceive), we finally became pregnant through IVF (in-vitro fertilization).
This was our 2nd attempt at IVF and luckily we were successful and became pregnant with our daughter. IVF was the the last option we had before we would consider adoption. We had tried everything we could to get pregnant before resorting to IVF. We tried taking expensive medications; clomid, metformin, levothyroxine, femara; and when those didn't work we went to injectable medications like FSH. Nothing worked. Then we tried IUI's (intrauterine insemination). After 4 rounds of those, we decided to try IVF.

Throughout out the years of TTC, my emotions took a toll. I was depressed every month when my cycle started, or when we found out that the hundreds of dollars we'd just spent on last month's meds didn't work. Or when we found out the IVF cycle that cost us $$$ didn't work. You get the idea.

Crying myself to sleep became a habit. I tried to look at the positive side of things; how my husband and I had an opportunity to enjoy married life a little bit longer before having kids, how we were able to get into a house sooner than we planned on, how I was able to work full-time longer and save up more money. But all of these "positives" were outweighed in my mind by the biggest burden I'd ever felt in my life, my inability to conceive!

I thought to myself constantly, "Why am I not able to conceive? Why does this have to happen to me?" The doctors couldn't find a reason why I was infertile (my husband was absolutely fine, in fact, better than fine. His "swimmers" as we like to call them, should have won an Olympic Gold Medal for their record time and agility.  The timing of my cycles had always been a little off, so the idea was to get my cycles more regular and take meds to make me ovulate more regularly. But once that was happening and we still couldn't get pregnant, I felt helpless.

All I wanted was answers. I wanted to know what else I could possibly do to increase my chances at getting pregnant. During all this time, I felt utterly alone. I felt like I was the only person on the face of the planet; no wait; the entire universe; who couldn't get pregnant.

But I was so utterly wrong! I knew there were others out there who were infertile, but they all seemed to get pregnant quicker than I did. I never wanted to talk about my infertility trials to anyone but my husband. I didn't even want to tell our families about what was going on. That would signal defeat in my mind. It would be like acknowledging my defaults in front of the whole world. They would all know that something was wrong with me. Was it too much to ask that all I wanted to do was provide grandchildren for our parents?

After going through the trials of infertility for 3 years, finally getting pregnant, and having our beautiful daughter, infertility is still looming in my mind. It never goes away. Yes, I was able to get pregnant which is one of the greatest blessings in my life. But that didn't take my infertility away. For 9 months I looked like a fertile woman, but I was still incapable of conceiving on my own.

I think a lot about having our next child. How all of this will come back to haunt me. Will we need to do IVF again? Will we finally be able to conceive naturally? These questions swim around in my head all the time.

I felt powerless for years. How could anything possibly be positive about this situation? What could I possibly find funny about our infertility?

And then I found out..........

Longer Out than In

Have you ever thought about the moment in time when your baby hit the mark of being outside longer than they were inside? 

For most mothers, this mark is usually around 9 months or 40 weeks after the baby was born. For me, however, it was around the time my baby turned 8 months old.

We were pregnant with E for exactly 8 months to the day. We are unique in knowing this since we had invitro fertilization and know the exact day our embryo was fertilized. I'm going to say something here that most people think is crazy talk, but I thought our pregnancy went by really fast and I really really loved being pregnant!

I hear most moms say that their pregnancy seemed like it took forever, but the first 9 months of their baby's life just flew by. Well, I feel the same in regards to the latter part of that. E's first 8 months really flew by and I have to pinch myself daily to remind myself that she is no longer our tiny little newborn!

My pregnancy didn't seem to fly by simply because E arrived early, but the whole thing just didn't seem to take very long to us. Some parts of the pregnancy went by slow, but for the most part, it felt like it went by very fast.

I loved EVERYTHING about being pregnant. Unlike most pregnant women who complain about every little thing (believe me you hear about it all day long when your job is working with pregnant women), I actually enjoyed experiencing the common "side effects" of being pregnant. 

Yes, I was blessed to not have extreme nausea and vomiting like most women, but I did have the usual nausea, aches, pains, trouble bending over, frequent bathroom trips, trouble sleeping, trouble walking, trouble breathing, sciatic nerve pain, cramps, intense labor pains, etc. But all that is expected during pregnancy.

Every day I was pregnant I experienced a miracle in progress. And I still experience a miracle every day I wake up and look at E. She is a miracle. Childbirth is a miracle. Pregnancy is an absolute miracle and I cherished every moment during those 8 magical months.

While I am absolutely elated to have a baby, I still miss my pregnancy a lot. Again, I know most people consider that crazy talk, but my outlook on the whole experience was different than most I think. I laugh just thinking about the many times I had to ask my husband to put my socks on for me or to help me pick something up.

I think of that moment when I first held my daughter for the first time, and sobbed like a baby myself because of the miracle I now had in my arms. I am even grateful that I was able to experience intense contractions because each time I knew I was closer to meeting my baby girl. (But I was also very glad to finally have a working epidural at 8 cm!)

E, thank you for being my sweetheart. Thank you for those 8 months you spent inside of me showing me your love each time you kicked Mommy. Thank you for the months you have spent with us showing us your love each time you smile and laugh and look into our eyes.